Pressure Grows On South Africa To Dissolve State Airline

WITH public spending severely overstretched even before the global pandemic, opposition and civil society groups say the airline, which hasn’t turned a profit for almost ten years, is ‘unsalvageable’.

“We don’t believe the airline in its current form is salvageable. We should stop throwing good money at it now and liquidate it,” South African businessman and civil society activist Wayne Duvenage said.

Duvenage believes the government should scrap the airline and relaunch a new South Africa-based international carrier in its place, where the government only hold a 25% stake.

“The problem with the current model is that nobody wants to buy into a defunct airline, with all the nooses around its neck. 

“It’s best now in the Covid 19 situation to launch anew and we believe this will take up some of the jobs that are released. Civil society is saying we’ve had enough of taxpayer money being thrown into